IPL 2019 auction to be held on December 18, gets primetime slot

The auction for the 12th edition of the Indian Premier League will be held on December 18.

All the franchises have already released the list of players retained and released by them. (Source: BCCI)

The auction for the 12th edition of the Indian Premier League will be held on December 18. According to a report by Mumbai Mirror, the Board of Control for Cricket in India has decided to change the timings for this season’s auctions. The report claims that this year’s IPL auction will begin at 3 pm to get primetime viewership as against the 10 am slot it was held in previous editions. It added that all the franchises have been informed about the decision.

This came as the board, as well as the broadcaster, wanted to give the event a primetime positioning to attract more viewers. Also, the fifth day of the second Test between India and Australia in Perth is scheduled to take place on December 18. The regular timings would have resulted in a clash between the two events.

The IPL auction will reportedly start at 3 pm and will go on till 9:30 pm. This year, the auction will take place in Jaipur.

All the franchises have already released the list of players retained and released by them. Some high profile names like Yuvraj Singh, Glenn Maxwell, Gautam Gambhir and Jaydev Unadkat were released by their respective sides.

The venue for IPL 2019 is yet to be finalised as the tournament is likely to clash with 2019 Lok Sabha elections. This has resulted in some discontent among the franchise as the auctions are being held before the deciding on the venue.

Also, with the ODI World Cup set to begin days after the IPL final, availability of top players will also be an issue. Cricket Australia has already confirmed that its players will not be playing the full edition of the league. They would also need a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the board before participating in the IPL.